Activists not happy at Aamir perhaps hijacking their platform: Critical of his approach

May 10, 2012 06:28:04 PM ISTEnkayaar, Glamsham Editorial

It seems that the appearance of Aamir Khan in the new avatar of social activist espousing the causes that plague the society through his television program Satyamev Jayate has rattled the ivory towers of the activists who have cried foul. They are disturbed about the fact that they have been harping and focusing on the issue but Aamir Khan has suddenly turned the focus away from them to himself.

Should the attempt of Aamir Khan be interpreted in such a manner? On one hand we are critical of our film stars that they do not associate themselves with the social issues that plague the country as it happens in the case of Hollywood, where literally whose who of the industry is associated with philanthropic activity in one form or the other, either in USA or in different parts of the globe. Now that Aamir Khan has decided to focus on it, the arm chair activists indeed seem to be rattled. Their sense of anxiety could be owing to the fact that if Aamir Khan is able to address even fewer issues and takes it to the logical conclusion then the donor agencies that provide multi-million dollar to the activists to work for such causes may have a second opinion about the matter.

The matter of the fact is the activists and others of the ilk do not want the film stars to be a part of the social campaigns as their range and effectiveness is much more than what the social activists have. Remember the polio campaign with which Big B was associated and so was Shahrukh Khan that in a major way was responsible for eradication of polio from the country. In the same manner the choice of Vidya Balan to associate with campaign of clean water would indeed have a profound effect.

The crux of the matter is that the film stars, who associate with social campaigns, do not seek an endorsement fee rather and they capitalize on their popularity to implore upon the fans to do the needful. Same happened with Aamir Khan who could arrange a meeting with the Rajasthan Chief Minister and could apprise him on the matter. May be, in coming episodes Aamir Khan should do an audit of the actions that he has initiated to see whether the steps taken by him to address the issues have reached a logical conclusion or not.

Once this is done the arm chair critics and the jholars would not have much of the opposition against him and Aamir Khan could be in a position to concentrate himself on the issues that affect the average citizens of the country. Meanwhile, Vidya Balan should begin her campaign in right earnest as water crisis is looming large and a celebrity endorsement is required to address water related issues. Shekhar Kapoor also needs to focus his energy on his magnum opus PAANI (Water) and tell the world how critical water is going to be in the times to come.